Person:Peter Curtis (5)

Peter Curtis's origins have yet to be established. His first confirmed sighting is on 7th August 1912 when he was married in the Marylebone area of London to a widow named Alice Sarah Syrad, formerly Allen. She was a tailor, with two children from her first marriage. Peter and Alice went on to have a son in 1913.

In April 1915, a few months in to the Great War, Peter joined the army. He was said to be 38 years old and working as a horsekeeper at the time he joined up. His service papers also record that he was 5 feet 10 inches tall with blue eyes. Peter's service in the army was chequered. He was posted to the Army Service Corps depot in Ormskirk. He was absent for a week in May 1915, then deserted on 3rd July 1915. It seems highly likely he returned home to Alice in London - nine months and a day after he deserted she gave birth to a daughter. Two months after his desertion Peter returned to the army, and was subject of a Court Martial for deserting and losing his kit. After his Court Martial he appears to have served for almost a year, before being discharged in September 1916 on the grounds that he was no longer physically fit enough to serve.

At the time Peter joined up he was living at 5 Malden Road in the Kentish Town area of London. Whilst he was serving Alice and the children appear to have moved twice judging by the next of kin details on his service records; first to 14 Aybrook Street in Marylebone, then to Windsor Buildings on Horace Street (formerly Cato Street - it reverted to its old name in the 1930s).

After the Great War, Peter and Alice appear to have lived at 7 Windsor Buildings continuously from at least 1921 to 1939. They had a third child in 1921. Peter clearly lost his army discharge papers and tried on several attempts to gain a copy from the army between 1927 and 1936, claiming he needed it urgently due to being in hospital in Marylebone, or needing it for employment.

Peter died in the Paddington area of London in 1943, aged 66, during the Second World War. Alice outlived him by thirteen years, appearing in the electoral rolls after the war with her children at 30 Delamere Terrace in Paddington.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Peter CURTIS, March Quarter 1943, Paddington Registration District, Volume 1a, page 68, aged 66 [1876/7]

2.   London, England. Electoral Registers 1832-1965.

   1921, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929
   7 Windsor Buildings, Horace Street, Marylebone
   Curtis, Alice
   Curtis, Peter
   
   1930, 1931, 1933 and 1934
   7 Windsor Buildings, Horace Street, Marylebone
   Curtis, Alice Sarah
   Curtis, Peter
   
   1935, 1936 and 1937
   7 Windsor Buildings, Cato Street, Marylebone
   Curtis, Alice Sarah
   Curtis, James Peter
   Curtis, Peter
   
   1938 and 1939
   7 Windsor Buildings, Cato Street, Marylebone
   Curtis, Alice Sarah
   Curtis, Peter

3.   British Army Service WWI Service Records, 1914-1920.

   Short Service Attestation papers
   [Summary of information]
   Date: 9 Apr 1915
   Corps: Army Service Corps
   Name: Peter Curtis
   Address: 5 Malden Rd, Kentish Town, London
   Age: 38 [1876/7]
   Trade: Horsekeeper
   Married: Yes
   Height: 5 feet 10 inches
   Next of kin: Sarah Alice Curtis, wife
   Her address:
   5 Malden Rd, Kentish Town, London NW [crossed out]
   14 Aybrook Street "late" North Street, High Street, Marylebone [crossed out]
   5 Winsor [sic] Buildings, Horace Street, Queens Road, Edgware Road
   Marriage details: Sarah Alice Syrad, widow, married 7 Aug 1912, Marylebone
   Children:
   Frederick (Syrad), b. 4 Mar 1904, "S.H. Cerat"?
   Alice (Syrad), b. 28 Jun 1905, St Marylebone
   James Peter Curtis, b. 31 Mar 1913, "S.H. Cerat"?
   [added later] Mary Nellie Curtis, b. 4 Apr 1916, Marylebone "Verified + Bth cert recd 27.4.16"
   Statement of the services:
   Joined at London 9 Apr 1915 as Private
   Posted to Army Service Corps depot at Ormskirk
   Went absent 22 May 1915, returned 28 May 1915
   Deserted 3 Jul 1915, rejoined 12 Sep 1915
   18 Sep 1915: "Convicted by DCM of Desertion & loss of kit. All prior service forfeited on conviction of desertion. Service towards limited engagement reckons from [18 Sep 1915?]"
   9 Sep 1916: Discharged. No longer physically fit for service.
   Declaration of lost discharge papers, 9 Mar 1927:
   Peter Curtis, Height 5.10 Eyes Blue, 7 Windsor Blds, Horace St, Edgware Rd, St Marylebone
   Various attempts between 1927 and 1936 by Peter to have his discharge papers reissued, having lost them and being in hospital (1927/8) and needing them urgently or needing them for employment (1936).